Mackie Designs Inc. announced today a change to the company's corporate name from Mackie Designs Inc. to Loud Technologies Inc. This change is intended to eliminate confusion between "Mackie" the company and "Mackie" the brand.

Jamie Engen, CEO at Loud Technologies, said, "As the company has grown, it has become increasingly difficult to differentiate the corporate entity 'Mackie Designs Inc.' from the brand 'Mackie.' This change will enable us to more clearly communicate within the financial and business communities, while at the same time, allow all of the brands under the new corporate designation, Loud Technologies, to strengthen their own unique identities and market positions.

"The transition from Mackie Designs Inc. to Loud Technologies Inc. will take place over a period of weeks rather than days. It's a change in designation only that is intended to bring clarity to our brands and does not indicate a change in ownership, corporate structure or in day-to-day business operations. 'Mackie' the brand will remain and, as such, will have greater clarity and messaging as a result."

Currently, there are seven brands in the Loud Technologies portfolio: Mackie, TAPCO, EAW, RCF, RCF Precision. SIA Software and Acuma Labs. Loud Technologies will continue to be headquartered in Woodinville, Wash., at the current Mackie Designs Inc. headquarters.

In other Mackie news, the company announced plans to position RCF as the worldwide commercial sound brand within the Mackie Designs family. With this announcement, the company will begin transitioning current Mackie Industrial products to the RCF brand starting with the DX8/DX810 Digital Mixer and the SP400C Ceiling Monitor.

"We have a fantastic network of dealers, distributors, system designers and contractors in place that have been very supportive of the Mackie Industrial brand and we are fully committed to this team," commented Ken Berger, senior VP of marketing at Mackie Designs Inc. "We want to build upon the momentum that they have helped us to establish, and at that same time, leverage RCF's rich 50-year history in commercial sound into new markets, including North America."

As part of this refocus, Mackie also introduced a new logo and graphics identity for the RCF brand. These graphics, along with the newly rebranded RCF DX8 and DX810 Digital Mixers, as well as the RCF SP400C Ceiling Monitor, are currently on display at the PLASA show in London. A new RCF Website is scheduled to launch later this year.